German Patent Publication (DE) No. 3,527,202, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,177, discloses a toothed rack made of fiber composite prepregs. In the known rack the individual prepregs are provided with cutouts that increase in size from the bottom up. In other words, the prepreg with the smallest holes is located on the bottom, while the prepreg with the largest holes forms an outer layer, so that the teeth of the toothed rack are formed between the gaps which are formed by the holes in the layered prepregs. This known construction results in a heavy rod since the holes in the prepregs not only form the teeth, they also form lateral walls resulting in extra weight.
Another drawback of the known construction is seen in the fact that the formation of the holes in the prepreg, for example, by stamping exposes fiber ends around the edges of the holes. These fibers ends may become the starting points for fraying during operation. Further, a step-like configuration is caused along the teeth flanks due to the layering of the prepregs with increasing holes therein. Excessive matrix material may accumulate on these steps, whereby the material strength is reduced in locations where it ought to be largest, namely, along the tooth flanks. To minimize this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,177 discloses the insertion of a wear resistant layer, for example, of Teflon.RTM. into the gaps to cover the tooth flanks. The hole cutting and extra wear resistant layer make the known manufacturing method rather expensive. Further, the above mentioned weight contributes to an increased wear and tear due to the required mass acceleration that must be applied to the gripper rod for each weft thread insertion movement. Accordingly, there is room for improvement.